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Background
The spirit soul is eternal, blissful, sublime and full of knowledge. However, we have identified ourselves with the body, which is temporary and full of miseries. God and His supreme Saint manifest themselves to relieve us of our miseries and to redeem us.
Krishna Bhagwan states in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (Shloks 9 &10), “The purpose of My present incarnation (is) to relieve the earth of it's burden, protect the pious and kill the impious.”
“I ...Assume human form to protect religion and to end irreligion...”
The scriptures also confirm that God appears on this earth in human form from Age to Age . The Srimad Bhramand Puran describes the manifestations of God in each of the fours Ages, and prophesies the advent of Bhagwan Swaminarayan: “In Satyuga Dattatrey, in Tretayuga Rama, in Dwaparyuga Vasudev Krishna and in Kaliyuga He will be Dharma's son by the name of Swami (Narayan)”.
(It is said that the manifestation of God in the Kaliyuga is the greatest of all the incarnations of God, and those born in the age of darkness who come in contact with that God are even more fortunate than those who had the association of God in His previous forms.)
Further, the Vishvaksen Samhita and Srimad Vishnu Dharmottar Puran also explains, “He, by the name of Sahajanand, shall manifest on the earth and give Vaikunth to all.”
“He will be born in the pure Dharma dynasty, whose mere name destroys sins, to the Brahmin named Hariprasad (Dharmadev) and will be known as Swami (Narayan) the Lord Himself.”
Back drop
By the 18th century Hinduism had stagnated and was on the decline. In addition to immoral practises such as Sati and infanticide , the spiritual foundation of religion was being eroded.
Many brahmin, who were responsible for upholding righteous conduct and regulated living had become lazy in performing their duties. They would play only lip service to spiritual rituals and instead of setting a good example to society in practicing these rituals themselves they would make excuses and show laxity in carrying them out.
Even worse, India was becoming rife with pseudo sadhus and ascetics (although there were genuine sadhus as well), who instead of teaching people about God and helping them to overcome their shortcomings, were themselves full of vices and ego. They would frighten people in order to fulfil their desires by using magical tricks or powers that they had acquired by worshipping deities.
Against this backdrop it is purported that at the abode of Nar Narayan, known as Badrikashram , that there was an assembly being held. Sages, rishis and other liberated souls had gathered to discuss the dire situation in Bharatkhund (India). All were so engrossed in these stories that when the great sage Durvasa arrived, no one noticed him; no one greeted him or offered him a seat. This made Durvasa extremely angry such that he cursed the whole assembly, “You shall all have to take birth on the earth and the Rakshasas (demons) shall harass you, and inflict much suffering on you.”
Both Dharmadev and Bhaktimata (the embodiment of dharma and bhakti respectively) who were also at the assembly, tried to appease Durvasa apologising for not showing him respect, and explained to him the situation. Gradually Durvasa calmed down but said “My curse cannot be withdrawn, but in order to save you from the curse the Lord will also take birth on the earth along with you all. He will destroy the demons, and save you from misery.”
Accordingly, Nar Narayan rishi meditated upon the supreme Lord, Purushottam Narayan, who gave darshan and blessed him saying,
“Have no fear my children! I to shall take birth on the earth along with you all. I shall free you from the clutches of the demons. Worship the Lord, I shall save you from your troubles.”
The Advent
It was in the unassuming village of Chhapaiya near Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh that Shreeji Maharaj decided to manifest Himself on 3rd April 1781. The village was naturally pleased at the birth of a son to Dharmadev and Bhaktimata but there was also an unusual euphoria about the place. Children were dancing with great joy, the women folk brought gifts and people had gathered around the house singing and laughing. The newly born child was emanating a divine glow that filled the whole atmosphere; people were enjoying the divine bliss of the supreme God Himself.
The Lord was named and His future told by a revered sage called Markandeya, who had visited Dharmadev's house. After analysing the precious time the young child was born the sage told the parents, “Your son is born under the zodiac sign of Kark Rashi (Cancer), so His name will be Hari. As He has a dark complexion he will also be known by the name Krishna. People will also call Him Ghanshyam. Your son possesses all the higher virtues like austerity, piety, morality, truthfulness and discretion, so He will also be known as Neelkanth. He... will one day renounce the world. Your son will restore religion to its rightful place on earth, He will relieve the miseries of the people... and show them the way to deliverance. He will... bestow happiness upon all.”
As a baby, Ghanshyam showed that he was no ordinary child. On one occasion, Ghanshyam was in His cradle when He saw His rattle on the floor. He got down from the cradle, crawled on His knees, picked up His rattle and went back in His cradle. At that time Dharmadev's friend Ramdayal who was on the porch talking, asked him, How old is your son?” Dharmadev replied, “He is two and a half months old.” Ramdayal was very surprised and realised this was an exceptional child.
Having learnt about the future of his son from Sage Markandeya, Dharmadev was curious and decided to test his son. Whilst Ghanshyam was in His cradle, Dharmadev put a couple of objects on a low table: a sword and book and a gold coin. Soon Ghanshaym got down from His cradle crawled over to the table and picked the book! Both His parents were extremely pleased and became convinced that their son had a great intellect.
Destruction of Kalidatta
As per the curse by Durvasa, Bhaktimata and Dharmadev experienced a great deal of harassment from demonic minded people. The worst of these was a man known as Kalidatta. He worshipped the deity Kalimata and had acquired mystical powers. Knowing that Dharmadev and Bhaktimata were to be the parents of the supreme Lord, he harassed them and was so egotistical that he even tried to kill Ghanshyam.
Using his mystical powers he would sabotage Dharmadev's brahmin activities such that he became disgraced. People shunned him and his family; even his brother-in-law, who had become hypnotised by Kalidatta, evicted them from his house where Bhaktimata and her family were staying.
After Ghanshyam's birth, Kalidatta attempted to dispose of Ghanshyam by sending his devotees to kidnap Him and kill Him, but none could be successful against the Lord incarnate. Frustration after frustration, Kalidatta turned to his god for help to get rid of Ghanshyam, but Kalimatta rebuked him and told him that, as he was up against the supreme God, he was doomed to failure if he pursued this quest.
Kalidatta was full of contempt and ego such that he wouldn't listen to reason even from his own god; He was beyond saving. In his desperation Kalidatta went after Ghanshyam himself. He tracked down Ghanshyam and his friends when they were out playing. When Ghanshyam saw him, knowing what Kalidatta was up to, He looked at Kalidatta scornfully, which made the assailant even more enraged. Kalidatta produced a severe cyclone along with torrential rain. Ghanshyam's friends ran with fear and hid but Ghanshyam nonchalantly walked under a mango tree enticing Kaladatta to come and get Him. As Kalidatta approached, Ghanshyam climbed up the tree. Kalidatta lifted himself in the air and threw himself against the tree with tremendous force thereby shattering large parts of the tree. Thinking that Ghanshyam must have been killed Kalidatta laughed with triumph but only to find that Ghanshyam was still seated up on the tree branch. Ghanshyam then shot a glance at Kalidatta and he was hurled with great force against another tree repeatedly, until he fell dead. That was the end of Kalidatta and the harassment to Dharmadev and his family.
Sanctity of life
At the time of Shreeji Maharaj, people had got into bad habits such as meat eating and priests carrying out animal sacrifices during spiritual rituals. Maharaj was very against this and wanted to instil respect for all living things and a religion based on non-violence. Ghanshyam exhibited this trait even at a tender age.
Once, Ghanshyam and His friends went to bathe at a local lake called Meen. As they played, Ghanshyam noticed a fisherman who was catching fish and putting them into a basket. Seeing the heap of dying fish, Ghanshyam's heart bled with pity. He vowed that all the fish should be saved; as soon as He determined this, the fish started to leap back into the water!
The fisherman thought that Ghanshyam was throwing the fish back into the lake and became very angry towards Him. Ghanshyam decided that the fisherman needed to be taught the error of his ways and so He invoked Yamaraj, the god of death, to appear. Yamaraj's appearance is horrific; the fisherman became very frightened. Yamaraj showed the fisherman a vision of the horrors and pain of hell. Realising whom Ghanshyam was the fisherman begged for forgiveness and promised not to kill any more fish; Ghanshyam duly forgave him.
On another occasion Dharmadev took his eldest son Rampratap and Ghanshyam to meet one if their relatives who were serving in the army of a local king. But when they reached the camp, they found that in one of the tents animals were being butchered for food. Dharmadev became terribly anguished to see such slaughter, and Ghanshyam was filled with pity for the animals and resolved to end this act. The moment he decided to do so, all the horses and elephants in the army camp rushed madly to the tent uprooting it. They chased after the culprits, one of the elephants chased after the king who climbed up a tree.
Ghanshyam , with his divine powers entered the tree where the king had taken refuge and shook it with great force. The king could barely hold on fearing that he would fall and be killed or be mauled by the elephant. The king cried to God to protect him. Then Ghanshyam spoke to the king, “You and your army are committing grave sins. You are killing innocent animals... Take a vow here and now that you will never indulge in senseless killing again... confess and repent for the sins you have committed.” The king repented accordingly
This was the key character of Shreeji Maharaj and His resolve. He possessed great compassion for society and His devotees; He wanted to highlight people's faults and shortcomings He also wanted to forgive those who truly repented and show them the correct way of living and to make them realise that their true identity is the spiritual soul.
His philosophy was for society to live by a moral code of conduct and thereby attain true spiritual happiness, prosperity and the ultimate redemption. Once, Kalidatta had sent several demons to kidnap the baby Ghanshyam. But Hanumanji who was in the service of Ghanshyam protected Him and was about to punish the demons when they pleaded with him to be set free; they promised never again to comeback to Chhapaiya.
Ghanshyam with great compassion allowed them to leave and said to Hanumanji, “This time We have manifested not to kill demons but to kill the demons of the mind.”
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